Wwf & Thai Union Europe Partnership Progress
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WWF & THAI UNION EUROPE PARTNERSHIP PROGRESS REPORT 2016 WWF & Thai Union Europe partnership progress report 2016 1 Welcome to the first progress report of the partnership FOREWORD between WWF and Thai Union Europe (TUE). This partnership is part of WWF’s engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including several influential retailers When Thai Union Europe signed a partnership with WWF and producers in the UK and Europe, who have a shared in October 2014, we knew we were embarking on a long and vision of developing sustainable fisheries worldwide. challenging journey towards more sustainable fisheries. Today, one billion people rely on fish as their primary source At the same time, I personally thought it was our responsibility of protein and over 250 million people earn a living from the to take the lead on that. fishing industry. But marine fish stocks are being pushed to 2015 was an important milestone for Thai Union. For the first their limits. time in the Group’s history, we defined a vision and a mission The world needs to do everything possible to source seafood supported by six values applicable to the Thai Union Group, in more sustainable and responsible ways. That’s why WWF- worldwide. Thai Union’s global vision is to be the world’s most UK and WWF France are working in partnership with TUE to trusted seafood leader, caring for our resources to nurture shift fisheries production towards sustainability across their generations to come. Sustainability is thus fully embedded into whole supply chain. Thai Union’s culture and will continue to drive our roadmap. The WWF and TUE partnership focuses on careful As we grow, we collaborate to bring responsible practices to management of fish stocks and the marine ecosystem, with our industry, to be the leading agent of change in order to clear targets for step-wise improvement, especially for tuna create a more sustainable and cleaner seafood eco-system. fisheries in Africa. Our long-term goal is to ensure that all the Our new vision, mission and values, applicable worldwide, seafood sold in Europe by TUE is Marine Stewardship give us additional responsibilities. This is the reason why this Council certified. partnership with WWF, embracing the MSC principles, is all the more important to us. There’s no quick fix in a programme of this kind, but we’ve made a good start by establishing transparency and enabling Through this report, I am pleased to share with you the first conditions for the next stage of progress. While there is DS SD milestones of this journey. still much to do to improve both environmental and social standards in the fisheries that are the focus of the programme, important practical actions have already been taken. Elisabeth Fleuriot This progress report provides an evaluation of our work in our CEO, Thai Union Europe first year of partnership (2014-2015), and looks forward to the next steps in the journey. DS SD Glyn Davies Executive Director of Global Programmes, WWF-UK WWF & Thai Union Europe partnership progress report 2016 2 WWF & Thai Union Europe partnership progress report 2016 3 THAI Thai Union Group is the world’s BACKGROUND number one processor of shelf- UNION stable tuna products and a leading global seafood processor. EUROPE Its subsidiary, Thai Union Europe (TUE), is the parent company for several prominent European seafood brands including John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar and RugenFisch. TUE’s tuna fleet is based out of Ghana and the company employs some 7,900 people WHY WWF WORKS across production sites in France, Germany, Ghana, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, WITH BUSINESS Portugal, the Seychelles and the United Kingdom, as well as sales offices in Belgium, Corporate partnerships are a fundamental part of WWF’s France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the strategy to work with business on sustainable solutions that Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom help people and nature thrive. We work with companies to and the United States of America. develop better ways of doing business that help protect the natural habitats and landscapes they source from. As a leading company in the market, TUE has publicly stated its commitment We focus our efforts on the commodities and sectors that to sustainable fishing – both directly to will have the biggest impact on the planet and encourage preserve stocks, and further to act as an companies to take a risk-based approach to managing, agent for change in its sector. protecting and restoring natural assets. We also help companies engage their staff, customers and other Responsible management and sustainability stakeholders in global conservation issues. in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors is critical to TUE because they only trade in Our approach is collaborative and constructive but seafood products. In recent years TUE has also challenging, and we maintain a tight focus on the taken a number of practical steps on their conservation benefits our partnerships are designed to sustainability journey. One of the most deliver. We bring people together, working across sectors important was in October 2014, when WWF with investors, consumer groups and policy makers to drive UK, WWF France and TUE entered into a the systemic change we need to achieve a greener economy. Seafood Charter partnership. WWF & Thai Union Europe partnership progress report 2016 5 WWF: OUR GLOBAL SEAFOOD CHARTER INDEPENDENT CERTIFICATION: Fish is one of the world’s most precious natural food resources and MSC AND ASC sustainably caught, MSC certified seafood is a renewable source of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification is the highest level protein. But the world’s oceans are under severe strain from threats for seafood producers to reach. The MSC is an independent not-for- such as overfishing, climate change and pollution. There is growing profit organisation which sets credible standards for sustainable concern amongst businesses, NGOs and academics about the fishing and supply chain traceability. Fisheries undergo rigorous sustainability of fisheries. With hundreds of millions of people relying science-based assessments to prove they can meet these standards and those that do are permitted to display the MSC ecolabel on on seafood globally, the world needs to source seafood responsibly their products. from sustainable sources. Aquaculture products have a similar certification scheme for farms called the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Companies that sign up to the Seafood certification scheme was set up in 1997 Charter are making a commitment to by WWF in collaboration with other embed business practices that will support stakeholders, including large industry sustainable management of natural partners, followed by the Aquaculture resources, and work throughout their Stewardship Council (ASC) certification supply chains to achieve the MSC standard scheme in 2010. WWF uses these for fisheries they are sourcing from. standards globally as the benchmarks The Seafood Charter is based on global to rate the level of sustainability/ WWF principles for working with responsibility that a fishery or farm businesses to ensure a sustainable achieves. They provide a framework for seafood portfolio. improvement in the water and demonstrate impactful change in the ecosystem, both of which are core to WWF’s work on seafood. They also enable a consistent global approach, used by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and companies alike, to reduce impacts on the environment. Where seafood businesses commit to source from certified sustainable sources, WWF encourages them to sign up to our Seafood Charter, which provides a framework for the journey towards sustainability. By championing better production, equitable resource governance and ecosystem integrity, the Charter aims to help deliver our vision for healthy and thriving Aquatic systems. WWF & Thai Union Europe partnership progress report 2016 6 WWF & Thai Union Europe partnership progress report 2016 7 The Seafood Charter commits TUE to: The Seafood Charter jointly commits TUE and WWF to: THE WWF AND TUE SEAFOOD CHARTER • Ensure full traceability of ALL its seafood products. • Apply best practice and scientific Initially running for four years (2014-2018), our partnership seeks to knowledge to improve the sustainability • Be actively involved in the global of TUE’s seafood supply chain and create improve sustainability across all species by working towards MSC/ fight against Illegal, Unregulated and demonstrable improvements through the ASC certification across the whole TUE supply chain. Unreported (IUU) fishing and be able to delivery of projects. demonstrate best practice is put in place that ensures no IUU products enter its • Contribute to a future in which supply chain. responsible fisheries and aquaculture For fisheries which are not yet at the The partnership also aims to engage operations thrive in healthy ecosystems, standard for certification, TUE and consumers in the importance of seafood • Develop a sustainable procurement benefiting people, businesses and species WWF will actively promote and engage in sustainability and ultimately to increase the plan to include promotion of MSC and that depend on them. formal improvement projects (known as number of consumers purchasing MSC/ASC ASC certified products and engage in Fishery Improvement Projects or Fishery certified products. improvement projects for TUE seafood • Help safeguard valuable marine and Conservation Projects), working together to to meet MSC